Aerodrome.



J. TRAVIS.

AERODROME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.7,1911.

Patented July 11, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses v I I Attorneys J. TRAVIS.

v AERODROME. APPLICATION FILED MAR.7.1911.

Patented July 11, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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J. TRAVIS.

ABRODROME.

APPLICATION FILED mu. 1, 1911.

Inventor r I I Attorneys 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Patented July 11,1911.

Jzfizzdfizfizl by y/ r UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

JAMES TRAVIS, OF CASCADE, MONTANA;

" AERODROME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1911.

. 1 Application filed March 7, 1911. Serial No. 612,752. v

' To all whom it may. concern:

Be it known that LJAMEs TRAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residinat Cascade, in the county of Cascade an State of Montana, have inventeda new and useful Aerodrome, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the ortho ter type.

One 0 the objects of the invention is to provide elevating andsustaining wings of aerodromes of novel. form mounted for. circularmovement about "an axis extending transversely of the machine, themechanism em loyed for actuating the wings being simp e, compact anddurable and under the constant control of the aviator.

A further object is to provide a tail plane having means whereby it canbe swung upwa'rdly and downwardly and tilted to the 1 right or to theleft irrespective of said swinging movement so as to control thedirection of flight.

- A furtherv object is to provides novel form of controlling planelocated in front of the body of the machine and by means of which themachine maybe caused to soar upwardly or downwardly as desired.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear asthedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed '.and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings, the pre; ferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings F-Figure 1 is a plan view of the complete machine. Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof, the body being shown in section. Fig.- 3is an enlarged transverse section, one of the wings being broken away.Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section through one of the wings. Fig.5 is a perspective view of the wing actuating crank shaft. Fig. 6 is adetail view of one of the universal connections between a wing and thecrank shaft. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of the wing supportinghangers, the arm of the wing'being shown in section. Fig. 8 is a planview of a portion of the arm of the tail chine, said body'beingm'ade upof a suitable skeleton structure 2 .having a covering 3 of lightmaterial, such asaluminum, a fabric, or the like. A floor 4 isconstructed in the lower portion of the body and supports the motor 5and the mechanism utilized for transmitting motion therefrom to thepropelling wings. This motor is connected, by a pitman 6, to a crankshaft 7 having a gear 8 secured to it. This gear meshes with-anothergear 9 secured to a. shaft 10 havin cranks 11 at its ends, each crankterminating in a ball 12. I

Hangers 13 are secured to the upper portion of the frame 2 at the sidesthereof and eachhanger has a ring 14 mounted in the lower portionthereof, said ringhaving trunnions 15 bearingwithin. the hanger. 'An

arm 16 eggtends through each ring. 15 and is connected thereto bytrunnions lZ journaled within the rings,these trunnions being ex--tended at right angles to the trunnions 15 so that it thus becomespossible forthe arm '16 to swing in any direction desired relative tothe hanger without however, rotatin within the han er. The inner end ofeac arm 16 has a soc ret 18 made up of oppositely disposed concavedmembers bolted or otherwise fastened to the arm and'this socket isadapted to receive one of the balls 12 hereinbefore referred to.

Each arm 16 is rovided, at its outer end, with a substantial y oval.wing19 made up of elongated bowed, longitudinal ribs and transverselyextendingbowed ribs, these rlbs being indicated at 20. and 21respectively and being fixedly secured to the arm 16 1n any mannerdesired. The frame formed by these ribs has a covering 22 secured. toIt, this covering being of any desired construction, preferably of flapsor the like designed to open during the upward'movement of the wing topermit air to pass freely through the wing .butto close automaticallyduring the 1 downward movement of the wing to prevent air from passingthrough the wing. This structure is well known in this art and it is notdeemed necessary to enter mto any detailed description thereof.

A socket member 23 is supported at the center of the back or stern ofthebody 1 .11 p

and has a ball 24 movably mounted within it, this ball being formed uponthe arm 25 of the tail plane 26. This tail plane is made up of ribsassembled to form a fiat frame provided with a covering 27 of fabric orother light material. This tail plane may be fan-shaped as shown in Fig.1 and may be reinforced by truss wires 28 located thereunder as shown inFig. 2. Arms 29 extend in opposite directions from the arm 25 close tothe ball 24, the outer terminals of these arms 29 being in alinementwith the center of the ball 24 and being connected, by cords 30 to theends of a foot lever 31. These cords are preferably arranged on guidesheaves 32 located beyond the ends of the arms 29 and whereby, when oneof the cords is pulled longitudinally, it will exert an upward pull uponone of the arms 29 and thus cause the arm 25 to rotate within thebearing 23..

The inner end of arm 25 is connected, by a ball and socket joint 33, toa link 34 pivot-- ally connected to one arm of a lever 35, this leverbeing in turn connected, by a rod 36 to a controlling lever 37 It willbe apparent, therefore,that when lever 35 is shifted, upon its fulcrum,the inner end of the arm 25 can be moved upwardly or downwardly so as toincline the tail plane relative to the line of flight and, while thisplane is in any position to which it may be inclined, it can be tiltedlaterally by manipulating the foot lever 31 in the manner hereinbeforedescribed.

Hingedly connected ,to the front end of the body 1 is an arm 38extending rearwardly from a cont-rolling plane 39 made up of a skeletonframe 40 on which a fabric or other light material 41 is secured. Thiscontrolling plane is bowed transversely and is also dipped in thedirection of its length. The arm 38 is connected, at its inner end, to alever 42 which, in turn, is connected by a rod 43, to a controllinglever 44.

It will be apparent that when the motor 5 is set in motion, the crankshaft 10 will be rotated at a high speed and cause the outer ends of thewings 19 to describe circles concentric with a line passing through thecenters of thebearing rings 14. By reason of the peculiar constructionof these wings, it will be apparent that they will be without effectduring their upward and forward movement but, during their downward andrearward movement they will displace the air and cause the machine toascend in a forward direction. The controlling plane 39 can be tilted bymeans of lever 44 so as to assume any desired angle relative to the lineof flight and this plane constitutes means for regulating the ascent anddescent of the machine. By tilting the tail plane 26 about itstransverse axis, the ascent of the machine can also be controlled and,bytilting said tail plane about its longitudinal ax s, it will operate tosteer the machine while in flight.

It is to be understood that windows, such as indicated at 45 may belocated wherever desired within the body of the machine.

What is claimed is 1. An aerodrome including a body, hangers dependingfrom the upper portions of the sides thereof, rings pivotally mountedwithin the hangers, arms extending through and pivotally mounted withinthe rings, a socket at the inner end of each arm, an operating shaft,cranks at the ends thereof,

balls upon the cranks and secured within said sockets, and a Wing at theouter end of each arm, each wing being substantially oval and having itslower face concaved transversely and longitudinally.

2. An aerodrome including an elongated body, oscillatory elevatingdevices extending laterally from the body, a controllin plane extendingforwardly from the b0 y and having its lower face concavedlongitudinally and transversely, said plane being pivotally connected atits rear end to the front end of the body, an arm fixedly connected toand extending into the body from said plane, and means under the controlof the aviator for shifting the arm to tilt the plane.

3. An aerodrome including a body, laterally extending oscillatoryelevating devices connected thereto, a tail plane, an arm. extendinginto the car therefrom, a ball and socket connection between said armand the rear end of the body, laterally extending arms adjacent saidconnection and integral with the first mentioned arm, means connected tosaid laterally extending arms for rocking the tail plane about itslongitudinal axis, an operating lever, and a ball and socket connectionbetween said lever and the arm of the tail plane, said lever being underthe control of the aviator for tilting the tail plane about a transverseaxis.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signaturein the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES TRAVIS.

' Witnesses:

J. W. JOHNSON, CHARLES A. BALLARD.

